dion: thank you for joining tonight, a potential new escalation in the war in ukraine. te kremlin claiming ukrainian rockets hit a fuel depot inside russian territory. for the first time since the invasion, video circulating online shows ukraine allegedly launching a air strike with helicopters on the russian side of the border. the attack happening as peace talks between the two countries resume today, and inside ukraine, the grueling effort to evacuate an estimated 100,000 citizens from the ruins of mariupol. dozens of busses turned away again. ukraine's president zelenskyy revealing he fired two top generals, calling them traitors. and two very different moments -- a crowd outside kyiv celebrating the liberation of their city by villagers in anot

of the city pay their respects to fallen soldiers. james longman in kyiv tonight. back here at home, the abc news exclusive. oscars producer will packer taking us backstage the moment will smith assaulted chris rock in front of millions of people. his immediate reaction watching it unfold and what chris rock may not have known before making that joke about jada pinkett smith. food prices soaring. inflation at its high nest 40 years. beef, eggs, poultry, and fruit all costing more. a family of more paying $200 extra per month. an increase of more than 30%. outspoken republican congressman madison call thorn under fire from his own party. rachel scott on the hill tonight. former u.s. soccer star hope solo arrested. authorities accusing her of drunk driving, resisting arrest,

and child endangerment. and a historic first for some amazon employees. something that's never happened for them before in the u.s.ato on this friday night. i'm whit johnson in for david. and we begin tonight with a potential escalation in the war in ukraine. russia accusing ukrainian helicopter of violating its border, attacking an oil storage facility inside russia. ukraine not confirming or denying the charge, and tonight ukraine is saying its armed forces have retaken control of more than two dozen cities and town as russian troops pulled back. russia releasing this video of the oil depot on fair in belgrade about 20 miles from ukraine. in this videos online you can see two air strikes in the

distance. in this one, helicopters flying near where the strikes hit. tonight, new images of the destruction in towns ukraine has taken back. the kyiv suburb of irpin a ghost town. nearly every home shattered and burned. but it's far worse in mariupol, a city russia said it won't leave. russia backed soldiers waging warfare. a city under rocket fir for weeks now. 100,000 people trapped with no food, water, or heat. a red cross evacuation convoy set out for mariupol today with dozens of busses but they were turned back. abc's james longman leads us off in kyiv. >> reporter: tonight, an astonishing admission -- moscow saying ukraine carried out this air strike on fuel depots inside russia. that's the first time russia has admitted to an attack by ukraine since the invasion. in these videos posted online, watch as missiles -- apparently fired from two helicopters -- rain down on the fuel tanks located some 20 miles from the ukrainian border.

flying low to evade radar, the helicopters make their escape. ukraine's defense ministry spokesperson later saying he could neither confirm nor deny that ukraine was responsible. this as peace talks continue. ukraine's chief negotiator telling abc news negotiating positions change day-to-day depending on battlefield gains or losses which makes talks, quote, extremely difficult. ukrainian forces claiming to have beaten back the russians in towns and villages across this country. despite consistent shelling, like at this airport near kyiv, some russian troops have moved back from the capital. these areas show the closest the military got to kyiv compared to today. and further complicating his war efforts, the president says he's now firing two high-ranking members of the ukrainian secret service. in his latest address, he called them traitors. and in mariupol, the nightmare continues. russian-backed soldiers laying

waste to the city with grenade launchers. and terrified citizens shelled. here wandering through the aftermath, streets now littered with rubble. for days, a large evacuation from the city has been stalled. the red cross saying arrangements and conditions made it impossible to proceed. at chernobyl, russian troops have now fled. officials saying radiation levels around the decommissioned nuclear plant are normal. >> we heard about the possibility of some personnel being contaminated, but we don't have any confirmation about that. >> reporter: outside the capital, a ukrainian patrol of recently recaptured irpin. there is still danger here. now a ghost town of burnt out buildings. residents who stayed describing the horror they witnessed. it was very scary lilja says. i was very frightened when the russians came to check things out. i thought they would execute us. lilia and her son artur were

afraid to leave during the russian occupation. she says now that the russians are gone, the city is quiet. [ speaking foreign language ] when our army came, then i fully understood we have been liberated, she says. it was happiness beyond imagination. in recently liberated ivankiv, a local official posting this photo, showing joyful residents posing with the ukrainian flag. ♪ victories, though, are hard won. the price, heartbreaking loss felt across the country. in lviv, funerals held every day for fallen ukrainian soldiers. [ singing in foreign language ] >> reporter: three families laying their brave sons to rest. this, a family's good-bye. more lives lost in defense of their nation. >> extraordinary loss just over a month into this war. james longman back with us again tonight from kyiv. james you're learning more about what happened to those ukrainian generals. president zelenskyy fired? >> reporter: whit, this is the first time president zelenskyy commented on these two generals,

both stripped of their command. it's understood one fled ukraine before the invasion began. it's not known where either of them is now. but president zelenskyy did go on to praise ukrainians who are still defending their nation. >> james longman thanks to you again tonight. great week of reporting for us. back here at home and new revelations from our abc news exclusive. producer will packer, who led the first all-black oscars producing team opening up to t.j. holmes about what happened behind the scenes after that shocking slap. what he said about why will smith was allowed to remain in the audience, and what chris rock may not have known about jada pinkett smith. here's abc's chief national correspondent, matt gutman. >> reporter: tonight, the producer of the oscars, will packer, revealing that like millions of americans, he thought will smith striding onto the stage was part of a gag. >> i thought this was part of something that chris and will were doing on their own. i thought it was a bit. i thought it was a bit, like everybody else.

>> not concerned. >> i figured, okay, you know, he's gonna say something, come at him you know, something funny is going to happen, because that's the nature of chris. and that's the nature of will. so let's see what happens. >> reporter: what actually happened, he told our t.j. holmes, was no joke. >> oh, wow. wow! will smith just smacked the [ bleep ] out of me. >> reporter: that now infamous moment coming after an unscripted joke about smith's wife jada pinkett smith's shaved head. >> jada, i love ya. "g.i. jane 2," can't wait to see it, alright. >> reporter: pinkett smith has opened up about her battle with alopecia. a longtime friend of rock's says he didn't know about the condition. after the slap, will smith's reaction -- >> keep my wife's name out your [ bleep ] mouth! >> i'm going to, okay? >> reporter: -- brought reality crashing in. >> once i saw will yelling at the stage was such vitriol, my heart dropped.

and i just remember thinking, oh, no. oh, no. not like this. and chris was keeping his head when everybody else was losing theirs. >> that was the greatest moment night in the history of television. okay. >> reporter: and even then, says packer, he needed to verify that what he and millions of others had just seen was real. >> i said, did he really hit you? and he looked at me and he goes, yeah. he goes, i just took a punch from muhammad ali, as only chris can. he was immediately in joke mode. but you could tell that he was very much still in shock. he was telling me, i'm fine. let's just get past this. i'm getting out of here. i can't believe this happened. >> reporter: the lapd already on the scene for security then speaking to chris rock in packer's office. >> they were saying, this is battery. we will go get him. we are prepared. we're prepared to get him right

now. you can press charges. we can arrest him. as they were talking, chris was -- he was being very dismissive of those options. he was like, no, i'm fine. he was like, no, no, no. >> reporter: the academy says will smith was asked to leave, but that he refused. but once there was no arrest, it would have been the academy's decision to physically remove smith. a lot of folks immediately wondered why he got up, walked that far, assaulted somebody, went back to a seat and was allowed to stay. what was the conversation behind the scenes? >> shayla told me that they were about to physically remove will smith, and i had not been a part of those conversations. >> reporter: packer says he didn't speak directly to will smith that night, but he did talk to his publicist. >> i said to the publicist, the academy is not going to remove him. and she looked at me and said, thank god. >> reporter: as for chris rock, packer says he helped everyone make it through the rest of the night.

>> because chris handled the moment with such grace and aplomb, it allowed the show to continue. >> reporter: chris rock saved the oscars that night? did he save the show that night? >> i think he did. i think he did. he certainly saved what was left of it at that point. >> reporter: so he says chris rock saved the show. matt gutman joining us now. the question, though, has will packer talked to will smith? >> reporter: apparently he did. packer says that will smith reached out the very next morning, apologizing and expressing his embarrassment over the incident. of course will smith also apologizing to chris rock, posting on instagram that he was out of line and that he was wrong. whit, just moments ago for the first time since packer made these comments, we heard from a source from the academy saying that packer does not speak for the academy. whit? >> matt with those new developments, thank you. next tonight, your money. the rising prices affecting

every american family. inflation at its highest level in 40 years and wages aren't keeping up. food prices soaring at grocery stores and restaurants. grocery bill for a family of four up over $200 a month. that's 30% more. here's abc's alex perez. >> reporter: tonight, new data shows employers are on a hiring spree -- 431,000 jobs added in march. unemployment dropping to a new 3.6%, the lowest rate since the pandemic. but all that overshadowed by soaring inflation, now at a 40-year high. >> i know that this job is not finished. we need to do more to get prices under control. >> reporter: today, a family of four can expect to pay $200 more on the cost of their monthly groceries than last year. that's a jaw-dropping increase of more than 30%. cost of meat up 14%. eggs up 11.4%. fresh fruit, more than 10%. here in chicago, demand at this

food pantry is at an all-time high. more than 6,000 families coming here for groceries in march, up 20% from january. >> they're having to make choices between paying their rent or paying their utility bills and putting food on the table. >> reporter: among them, elsi, here with her 3-month-old carlos, and her social worker carla. even with her husband's full-time job, the family says they can't afford to go to the grocery store. >> all the other costs have been increasing so she's -- you know, they're struggling. >> reporter: whit, worse for consumers because of the production cost manufacturers are downsizing and shrinking their products but not prices, leaving many paying more for less. >> alex, thank you. next here, a rising young republican star is under fire from his own party. madison cawthorn making stunning claims on a podcast about the sexual behavior and drug use he says he's seen in washington.

gop colleagues now calling him out, and house minority leader kevin mccarthy saying the freshman lawmaker was not telling the truth. here's abc's rachel scott. >> reporter: he's the youngest member of congress, a rising star in the republican party, a leading trump supporter, speaking at that rally on january 6th. >> my friends, i will tell you, right now that there is a new republican party rising. >> reporter: but tonight republicans say that after a string of controversies, congressman madison cawthorn has finally crossed the line with his claim that people in washington, presumably g.o.p. lawmakers, invited him to sex parties and used cocaine. >> i look at all these people, a lot of them that i've looked up to through my life -- i've always paid attention to politics, guys -- then all of the sudden you get invited to, well, hey, we're going to have kind of a sexual get together at one of our homes. you should come. what did you just ask me to come to?

and then you realize they are asking you to come to an orgy. or the fact that, you know, some of the people that are leading on the movement to try and remove addiction in our country, and then you watch them do, you know, a key bump of cocaine right in front of you,. >> reporter: house republican leader kevin mccarthy, who has been reluctant to discipline other members for making outrageous comments, summoned cawthorn to his office for a scolding. >> he's lost my trust. he's gonna have to earn it back. he's got a lot of members very upset. >> reporter: mccarthy telling reporters cawthorn did not tell the truth. >> he claims he watched people do cocaine. now when he comes, tells me, he says, no, he thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage from 100 yards away. and tell me that he doesn't know what cocaine is. it's just frustrating. >> reporter: sources say the republican leader asked cawthorn to publicly apologize, but so far, cawthorn has refused. his republican colleagues infuriated. what did you make of those comments? >> irresponsible. irresponsible. >> what he's saying can't possibly be true.

>> i just think it puts us in a bad light. >> reporter: both senators say they will not back cawthorn, calling him an embarrassment. but he has one big name in his corner, donald trump, who announced cawthorn will be a guest at his rally in north carolina. the cdc announcing it's ending a trump era policy that limited asylum at the u.s./mexico border to prevent the spread of covid-19 william covid cases dropping the policy known at title 42 will end may 23rd. homeland security chief alejandro mayorkas says they're ready the staff and vaccines. they're seeing 7,000 migrants every day, but after title 42 expires that number could climb to 18,000 per day. a major victory for organized labor tonight. amazon workers at a facility on staten island have voted to form a union. after the results, organizers

popped the cork on a bottle of champagne. amazon is the nation's second largest private employer be the staten island fulfillment center is its first in the u.s. to unionize. the company says they are disappointed and may file objections. when we come back here tonight, hope solo arrested, accused of alleged drunk driving, assisting arrest and child endangerment. tion of two immunotherapies that works differently. it could mean a chance to live longer. opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. together, opdivo plus yervoy helps your immune system launch a response that fights cancer in two different ways. opdivo plus yervoy equals a chance for more time together. more family time. more time to remember. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough;

chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain, nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness; joint pain; flushing; or fever. these are not all the possible side effects. problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. here's to a chance to live longer. ask your doctor about the combination of two immunotherapies, opdivo plus yervoy. thank you to all those in our clinical trials. this is a hero, walking his youngest down the aisle, which to his bladder, feels like a mile. yet he stands strong, dry, keeping the leaks only to his eyes. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. next tonight, former u.s.

soccer star hope solo arrest in the winston salem, north carolina, accused of driving while intoxicated and child abuse. police say the 2-year-old twins with with were her when pulled over. her lawyer saying the story is more sympathetic than the charges address. when we come back, mesh's oldest national park ranger finalry retires at the age of 100. i wish he could have seen our daughter ellie get married, on the best day of her life. but colon cancer took him from us, like it's taken so many others. that's why i've made it my mission to talk about getting screened and ask people to share their reasons why. i screen for my growing family. being with them means everything to me. i screen for my girls. they're always surprising me. i screen for my son. i'm his biggest fan. if you're 45 or older and at average risk, it's time to screen. today, there are more screening options

than ever before, including cologuard. cologuard is noninvasive and finds 92% of colon cancers, even in early stages. it's not for those at high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. everyone has a reason to screen for colon cancer. if you're 45 or older, get started at missiontoscreen.com inner voice (design studio owner): i'm over here waiting... ... looking intensely for a print that i never actually printed... ... so i don't have to deal with that terrifying pile of invoices. intuit quickbooks helps you easily send your first invoice in 3 steps. simple. ♪ in the future we'll travel to incredible places with the help of magical technology. but what about today? i want my magical future now. ♪ i have places to go. ♪ rocks to climb. ♪ sights to see.

and flights to catch... i can't wait for what tomorrow will bring, but in the meantime, let's enjoy the ride... ♪ the world is full of make or break moments. ana high rture, if you have postmenopausal osteoporosis let's enjoy the ride... it's time to make your move to help reduce your risk of fracture with prolia®. only prolia® is proven to help strengthen and protect bones from fracture with 1 shot every 6 months. do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. serious allergic reactions like low blood pressure, trouble breathing, throat tightness, face, lip or tongue swelling, rash, itching or hives have happened. tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone problems may happen or new or unusual pain in your hip, groin, or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. speak to your doctor before stopping, skipping or delaying prolia®, as spine and other bone fractures have occurred. prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium, serious infections, which could need hospitalization,

skin problems, and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. don't wait for a break. call your doctor now and ask how prolia® can help you. if you're always asking, "where next?" capital one has a new class of travel card for you. venture x. earn 10x miles on hotels and 5x miles on flights booked through capital one travel. venture x. what's in your wallet? to the "index" and the end of an era. betty reed retired at the age of 100. america's oldest active ranger, a career she began at 85. she shared her remarkable stories at the rosie the riveter home front national historic park in richmond, california. betty telling us on her 100th birthday it's important to revisit history as it was lived to measure how far we've come. when we come back here, the

pets in need of a home and the school children making their case. rely on. to be strong. to overcome anything. ♪ to be...unstoppable. that's why millions rely on the strength and financial guidance of prudential to achieve their dreams. who's your rock? ♪

like pulsing, electric shocks, sharp, stabbing pains, or an intense burning sensation. what is this nightmare? it's how some people describe... shingles. a painful, blistering rash that could interrupt your life for weeks. forget social events and weekend getaways. if you've had chickenpox, the virus that causes shingles is already inside of you. if you're 50 years or older ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...the itching... the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®... ...most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw

90% clearer skin even at 5 years. tremfya® is the first medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. and, it's six doses a year, after two starter doses. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®. ask your doctor about tremfya® today. i'm greg, i'm 68 years old. i do motivational speaking ask your doctor about in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

finally tonight, "america strong." the pets needing a new home and the school kids coming to the rescue. >> reporter: in richmond, virginia, mrs. jones' second graders at st. michael's episcopal school are hard at work on a very special assignment. evan warren at his desk. henry zhang holding up the finished product. the entire class with a persuasive writing assignment. mrs. jones teaching them about the local pets up for adoption at richmond animal care and control. each getting to know a dog or cat and writing a letter from their point of view, complete with a drawing, posting the letters at their shelter, hoping it would help get them adopted.

liza jane scherer, smiling with her letter. >> hi, my name is cody. i would love to be adopted. i want a loving, caring family with a big, fenced-in yard. please be my owner. >> reporter: parker witthoeff reading his. >> hello, my name is missy. i like fenced-in yards and wide spaces. i like to eat treats. i love to run, and i'm very gentle. i want to be adopted. will you adopt me? >> reporter: tonight, we're happy to report 20 pets from that assignment have now been adopted. >> give me kisses. >> reporter: romeo at his forever home with angela lewis. >> our hearts were taken when we read the stories that the st. michael's kids wrote. >> reporter: and four of the dogs still waiting. >> this is pebbles. good boy. hi, kotey cakes. what are you up to? >> reporter: christie chipps peters, the director of the shelter, with yosemite.

>> he is available. and would love to go home with you today. >> reporter: tonight, that second grade teacher who started it all, mrs. kenzie jones, and her hope. >> i hope more teachers across the nation will take this idea and partner with their local animal shelter so that more animals can find their forever homes. >> reporter: and parker on the lesson, how it feels to help. >> it makes me feel amazing because they have been in that shelter almost all their life, and it make mess feel just very good they have forever homes. >> well done. hopefully we can get those other pets adopted, too. thanks so much for watching. i'm whit johnson in new york. have a great night. >> building a better bay area,

moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7news. >> that he thought was percocet. it was fentanyl. >> it is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. we know there is an urgent need. >> the fentanyl crisis continues to grow, an epidemic that are cross -- affects families across the bay area and no one family is try to find a solution. thank you for joining us. dion: overdose deaths involving opioids like fentanyl have increased sixfold since 1999. in january of 2021, drug covid s -- drug overdose deaths exceeded homicides. larry: last year, there are 106 fentanyl related deaths in center. co., another county is greeting a task force to prevent more deaths.

>> this is [indiscernible] his father says he excelled in his high school wrestling program. despite his compass means, his father says the teen started to experiment with drugs. his substance abuse issues became worse during the pandemic. >> we had placed him at a rehab. he got discharged in early july. he looked healthy and happy. he relapsed. >> in 2020, he took a percocet pill that was laced with fentanyl. he was a month shy of turning 18. drugs laced with fentanyl are almost impossible for drug users to detect until it is too late. >> it is estimated that it is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine so one small amount of fentanyl has the risk of these negative effects. >> look at these numbers from the coroner. in 2018, there were 12 deaths.